Hunting boot protector



Oct. 10, 1961 J. w. GRAHAM ETAL 3,

HUNTING BDOT PROTECTOR Filed April 29, 1959 Joe M! Graham Harald R. Graham INVENTDRS United States Patent 3,003,261 HUNTING BOOT PROTECTOR Joe W. Graham, 622 E. Kelly, Phan', Tex., and Harold R.

Graham, 541 N. 4th St., Uvalde, Tern; said Harold R. Graham assignor of ten percent to Andrew J. Lidwin, Zavala County, Tex., and forty percent to said Joe W. Graham Filed Apr. 29, 1959, Ser. No. 809,743

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-2) The present invention generally relates to a protective device and more particularly to a device for protecting the legs and feet of hunters or other persons while walking outdoors and especially when walking through bushes, brush, rocky terrain, swamps or any other area normally harboring snakes.

Snake bites, especially by rattlesnakes and other poisonous snakes are quite common in certain sections of this country. Persons hunting or otherwise walking through an area in which such snakes are found are often subject to such biting. It is well known that the fangs of a snake such as a rattlesnake can penetrate the leather of a hunting boot. Thus, even if knee length hunting boots are employed, a rattlesnake may still bite and poison a person through the boot. Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a protector which will completely protect the feet and legs of a person wearing the device from snake bites.

The present invention generally incorporates a twopiece device for each foot and leg which includes a foot covering member attached to the hunting boot or shoe and a leg covering member articulately connected to the foot covering member in a manner which will permit relative pivotal movement about a transverse axis while also permitting some limited movement about a longitudinal axis thus simulating closely the action of the ankle with the connection being located alongside of the ankle. The entire device is readily mounted in position and is constructed of extremely lightweight yet impenetratable resin impregnated plastic which is impervious to snake fangs even though it is extremely lightweight and relatively thin which does not add materially to the weight of the foot wear but does olfer protection from snake bites.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a foot and leg protector which is simple in construction, easy to attach, permits free movement of the legs and feet, light weight, long lasting and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the protector of the present invention assembled on a boot and leg of a person wearing the same;

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevation of the construction of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 illustrating the details of construction of the protector;

FIGURE 4 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 illustrating the details of the articulate connection between the foot covering member and the leg enclosing member;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse, plan sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 5-5 3,003,261 Patented Oct. 10, 1961 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the manner of joining the edges of the entrance slit in the rear of the leg enclosing memher; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmental elevation of the lower end of one side of the leg enclosing member illustrating further details of the articulate connection.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates a foot or boot protecting member while the numeral 12 generally designates a leg protecting or enclosing member which are attached to each other and which cooperate to form effective protection from the foot upwardly to an area adjacent to the knee region.

For purposes of illustration, there has been provided a hunting boot of conventional construction designated by the numeral 14 which terminates above the ankles with a persons leg 16 also being illustrated for purposes of demonstration. The foot protecting member 10 includes a generally horizontally disposed U-shaped member 18 conforming in shape and size to the uppers. The bight portion of the U-shaped member 18 conforms closely to the toe portion of the uppers of the hunting boot 14 with this relationship clearly being illustrated in FIGURE 3. The lower edge of the U-shaped member 18 is disposed alongside and may actually engage the upper surface of the sole 20 of the hunting boot 14. The upper edge 22 of the U-shaped member 18 is spaced away from the laced portion 24 of the hunting boot 14 and extends rearwardly and terminates in a pair of leg portions 26 which are spaced apart slightly at the heel and which are interconnected by an adjustable elastic heel strap 28 secured together by a suitable buckle. Attached to the central portion of the bottom edge of the 'U-shaped member 18 is an adjustable elastic shank strap 30 which also is adjusted by a suitable buckle. The shank strap 30 is disposed in the shank region of the boot and retains the member 18 in position. Also retaining the member 18 in position is an elongated elastic instep strap 32 which is attached adjacent the rear ends of the leg portions 26 and extends across the upper surface of the instep region of the boot 14 with these straps effectively securing the shoe protecting member 10 in position with the entire uppers of the boot being enclosed except for a small area at the heel and except for that portion of the uppers disposed upwardly above the ankles.

The leg protecting or enclosing member 12 includes a vertically elongated tubular member 34 having a vertical entrance slit 36 at the rear edge and also a U-shaped notch 38 at the upper end thereof. The tubular member 34 is generally oval shaped in transverse configuration and the front edge thereof is provided with a forward offset area 40 for providing room for flexing of the knee of the leg 16 in the usual manner.

The lower end of the tubular member 34 is convexly curved as indicated by the numeral 42 and bells outwardly slightly and is telescopically arranged with the upper edge 22 of the U-shaped member 18. The outward bell and the arcuate convex curvature 42 enables pivotal movement of the tubular member 34 in relation to the member 18. Means is provided for connecting the tubular member 34 to the member 18 and such means includes a projection 44 on each of the leg members 26 with the projection 44 having a downwardly facing recess 46 and an upwardly facing recess 48 which is deeper than the recess 46 and which receives and engages a generally V-shaped notch 50 in the lower edge of the tubular member 34 whereby the inner edge of the notch 50 will rest against the bottom of the recess 48 and will fulcrum thereon since the bottom of the recess 48 is convexly curved to pivotally receive the inner edge of the notch 50. Disposed on the tubular member 34 immediately above the notch 50 is a projection 52 having an upwardly facing recess 54 thereon which is also rounded in the bottom with the oppositely facing recesses 46 and 54 receiving a resilient strap 56 which is in the form of a strong rubber band. The construction is the same on both sides and the strong rubber band 56 which wraps around the hook shaped projections which form the notches or recesses 46 and 54 enables rocking movement of the tubular member 34 about a generally transverse axis in alignment with the ankle thus allowing the foot to move in relation to the leg about a generally transverse axis. Inasmuch as the rubber band or strap 56 is stretchable and yieldable, the tubular member 34 may rock about a generally longitudinal axis whereas one side of the tubular member 34 engaging with the bottom of the recess 48 will act as a fulcrum when the other side raises away from the bottom of the recess 48. Thus, the connection between the tubular member 34 and the foot protecting member is resiliently articulate about a transverse and longitudinal axis and generally about any intermediate axis substantially in the nature of the movement of the ankle thus allowing complete freedom of movement of the person using the protector.

Referring to FIGURES 2 and 5, it will be seen that one edge of the slit 36 (see FIGURE 2) is provided with what may be termed a hook shaped projection 58 having an outwardly opening recess 60 while the other edge of the slit is provided with a double hook shaped projection 62 having an outwardly opening recess 64 and an inwardly opening recess 66 for receiving the corresponding edge of the slit 36 with the other edge of the slit 36 underlying the first mentioned edge and being received in a recess 68 thus providing a smooth interior surface for the leg enclosing member 34.

The upper end of the leg enclosing tubular member 34 is provided with an elastic strap 70 adjustable in length and provided with a detachable buckle connection or any similar detachable connection 72. A portion of the strap 70 is threaded through slits 74 in the member 34 at circumferentially spaced points thereby securing the upper end of the tubular member 34 to the leg 16 so that the leg 16 will be spaced from the tubular member 34 for allowing freedom of movement thereof but yet providing protection to this area of the leg.

The entire device except for the straps is constructed of a lightweight but yet durable fiber impregnated resin plastic such as Tenite No. 2 as produced by Du Pont Company. The material from which the device is constructed is sutiiciently flexible to enable the edges of the slit 36 to be spread apart when the resilient bands or straps 76 holding the same in assembled condition are removed and the tubular member 34 may be completely removed when the resilient straps 56 are released which may be easily accomplished by tensioning and stretching the straps and releasing them from the hook shaped projections. While the device is constructed for preventing snake bites, other advantages will occur by wearing the device such as protection of this area of the legs from scratches and other damage from briers or the like while also protecting this portion of the body from injury due to blows or the like.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A protector comprising a shoe enclosing member and a leg enclosing tubular member, means articulately connecting the leg enclosing member to the shoe enclosing member for permitting movement about a transverse axis and resilient movement about a longitudinal axis for simulating the action of the ankle, said means being located adjacent the position of the ankle, said tubular member being provided with a rear vertically extending entrance slit, each edge of said slit having a generally hook-shaped projection defined thereon, said projections facing outwardly and forming outwardly facing recesses, and a resilient band encircling the projections and retaining the entrance slit in closed relation, said shoe enclosing member including a generally U- shaped member conforming to the curvature of the uppers of a shoe for covering substantially the entire shoe above the sole, said U-shaped member having leg portions interconnected by an adjustable elastic heel strap, an adjustable elastic shank strap extending under the shank region of a shoe and connected to the bottom edges of the legs of the shoe enclosing member, and an elastic instep strap connecting the rear ends of the legs of the shoe enclosing member and extending across the instep portion of the shoe and foot for retaining the shoe enclosing member in position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said articulate means includes a projection of hook shaped construction on diametrically opposed surfaces of the tubular member with the projection opening upwardly, an upwardly extending notch in each edge of the tubular member in alignment with the projection, a double projection extending outwardly from each leg of the U-shaped shoe enclosing member with each projection having an upwardly opening recess and a downwardly opening recess with the upwardly opening recess receiving the notch, and a resilient band encircling the oppositely opening recesses and resiliently retaining the bottom of the notch against the upwardly opening recess thereby permitting rocking movement of the tubular member on the bottom of the notch and upward shifting or pivoting of the tubular member in relation to the shoe enclosing member upon exertion of lateral thrust.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,211,411 Claxton Jan. 9, 1917 1,426,593 Nutt Aug. 22, 1922 1,902,584 Sager Mar. 21, 1933 2,779,108 Twiss Ian. 29, 1957 

